Please Help! Low Supply or Colic or Growth spurt?

Hi Mommies. I'm so distressed today. Baby is 18 days old and BF started off well. the 1st week had a bit of oversupply then the supply started diminishing and I just assumed that the supply was adjusting to baby's need. the las few days my breast hardly fell full anymore but baby has enough wet diapers so i convinced myself that it's normal. Since last night baby has been so irritable.. constantly at the breast i sm so worried there's just not enough milk. breast is so soft..don't think it's filling up in time. What do I do mommies? Should i supplement? Please help

Re: Please Help! Low Supply or Colic or Growth spurt?

2-3 weeks is prime time for a growth spurt. You're doing the right thing by counting wet diapers It's hard to tell in the beginning because our breasts seem to feel different to us every day, and every small change can make us question ourselves.

I would not supplement based on the information you gave. Breastfeeding is all about supply and demand. When your baby goes through a growth spurt it's important that we nurse on demand so that our supply can catch up (which sometimes means we are nursing around the clock - which in turn leaves our breasts feeling squishy and not full - but there IS milk in there).

If you're nursing 8-12 times (or more) in a 24 hour period and there are 5-6 wet diapers (or more), things are fine. Don't psych yourself out mama - sometimes we are our own worst enemies. I wish boobs were see through, so we could see how much milk is being transferred. It's hard initially to trust our bodies and our babies to do they are meant to do

~Jenn~

mother of 2 boys!08/14/98~~03/20/08Birth: 7lbs 12oz, 1 year: 22lbs 11oz until he self-weaned 4 days before his third birthday ... still on occasion ... and happily ************************************************** ************************************************** *****************People need to understand that when they're deciding between breastmilk and formula, they're not deciding between Coke and Pepsi.... They're choosing between a live, pure substance and a dead substance made with the cheapest oils available. ~Chele Marmet

Re: Please Help! Low Supply or Colic or Growth spurt?

Don't supplement; you don't need to as long as diaper output remains normal. One of the surprising things about breastfeeding is that when supply and demand are well-matched, you're rarely if ever going to feel full. It may be that your supply decreased to match baby's needs, or it could be that baby is going through a growth spurt and is taking everything you have- and there's a big growth spurt at around 3 weeks.

Just nurse, nurse, nurse, and then nurse some more. That's the solution to almost all breastfeeding problems! And don't think you have to wait for the breast to "fill up". The breast is always making milk, and it makes milk faster when the breast is kept fully drained.

Re: Please Help! Low Supply or Colic or Growth spurt?

I agree with pp's this all sounds entirely normal. But just a couple of questions to be super sure:

What does "constantly at the breast" mean? I have heard this mean a wide variety of things. Can you give a rough estimate on how many times a day baby nurses? Does baby typically take one or both breasts per feeding? Any long stretches (more than 3 hours) of not nursing? Does baby ever relax or fall asleep when nursing, even if only for a short time?

Do you hear baby swallowing when nursing? (This can be tricky to hear so don't worry if the answer is no)

Re: Please Help! Low Supply or Colic or Growth spurt?

Thanks mama..that what I'm doing just nursing nursing nursing
Baby has not pooped in 24 hours...previously used to be a couple of times a day..but he has many soaking wet diapers.
He does swallow but not as much as before..he sort of latches on and looks as if he is waiting for something to happen (.letdown?) baby nurses more than 10 times per day and never sleeps longer than 2 hours. At night he will nurse for 2 hours straight sometimes..I never restrict him ..it's feeding on demand
I usually feed from one breast only coz initially thats all he could take. Now I wait for him to latch off then offer the other but he won't take it. He'll nap for say 20 mins then start rooting again.
I'm just worried my supply is going to go down further. Should I start pumping to increase supply or something?
TIA

Re: Please Help! Low Supply or Colic or Growth spurt?

I see no reason to think your milk production has 'gone down' at all. I'd be happier if baby was pooping three times a day, but this can vary sometimes and be fine. what kind of volume are we talking when baby does poop? What do they look like? Sorry to harp on poop, but poops tells us more than pee. And again, what have weight checks told us?

The nursing behavior and frequency sounds entirely normal for this age. I would NOT suggest pumping, not at this point, because so far I don't hear any evidence anything is wrong in what you have posted. If you are really concerned, you can try nursing more instead. Way less work than pumping and more effective for milk production, assuming baby can nurse reasonably effectively.

But I still need to know-what have the weight checks said. Also, if nursing is painful at all.